The IDF struck targets in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday saying it has begun Operation. Breaking Dawn against the Islamic Jihad.
Several targets in the northern Gaza Strip were hit, with reports of casualties including the head of the group’s northern command Taysir al-Jabari who replaced Baha abu al-Ata who was killed in an IAF strike in 2019. Jabari, who was also responsible for coordination between the group and Hamas, was killed at 4.16 PM in Shuja'iyya.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported eight dead including a five-year-old girl and 44 injured.
According to the IDF, he commanded over the launching of hundreds of rockets during Operation Guardian of the Walls last year, including anti-tank-guided missile attacks.
The IDF said that they had received a specific warning that he was planning an attack against Israeli targets before the arrest of Bassem Saadi earlier in the week in an arrest raid in the West Bank.
In addition, IAF jets and drones targeted two cells that were on the way to carry out anti-tank missile attacks, killing at least 12 PIJ operatives.
Following the targeted killings, which was done by jets and armed drones, the IDF warned that the group would likely respond with rocket fire toward the Israeli homefront. The military has therefore placed Iron Dome batteries in the area of Jerusalem, Beersheba and others in order to intercept any projectile fired by the group.
Additional reservists have been called up, including ground troops and armored corp.
The IDF said it hopes Hamas will stay out of the fighting. Earlier on Friday afternoon, it allowed fuel into Gaza to prevent a total shutdown of the sole power plant in the Strip, which already operates on a limited capacity. Without the plant, Gaza would be dependent on external power largely from Israel which provides 120 megawatts daily.
Residents of the Gaza envelope were asked to remain close to shelters should there be any rocket fire. The IDF has also alerted residents up to 80km from the Gaza Strip, including Tel Aviv, that there could be a risk of rocket fire.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that Israel 'won't allow terrorist organizations to set the agenda in the Gaza Strip and threaten the citizens of the State of Israel. Anyone who wants to harm Israel must know that we will get to them. Security forces will act against the Islamic Jihad terrorists to remove the threat from the citizens of Israel."
Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz plan to hold a security assessment at the Kirya in Tel Aviv at 6:30.
Israel closed the Erez crossing on Tuesday, blocking 14,000 Gazans who have permits to enter Israel to work.
“Those who harm the ability of 14,000 workers to make a living, who cause produce to sit and spoil at crossing points, and who lead to electricity and food shortages - hurt the people of Gaza first and foremost, and will have to take responsibility [for this suffering],”he said.
The leader of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nahalka who is based in the Syrian capital of Damascus, was in Tehran on Thursday and met with Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi. Tehran funds and equips the Gaza-based terror group.
Gantz said that security forces are preparing for all scenarios, on all fronts including in the north and the center of the country and that the IDF will continue its operational activity in all sectors as needed.
| Update at 12:30 p.m. EDT courtesy of Mercutio: |
[LegalInsurrection] The Israeli military has eliminated a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group. The high-ranking PIJ operative, Taysir Jabari, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza after days of standoff between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist groups.The PIJ also confirmed the killing of its “the great jihadist commander” in an IDF strike. “The Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine and its military wing the Al-Quds Brigade mourn the great jihadist commander Tayseer al-Jabari ‘Abu Mahmud’, who was killed in a Zionist assassination in Gaza City,” the jihadi group said in a statement.
Several other terrorists were also taken out in the IDF strike. “The Israel Defense Forces estimates that between 10-20 Palestinian terrorists have been killed in the Gaza Strip amid the opening wave of airstrikes against the Islamic Jihad,” The Times of Israel reported. “According to the military, six sites were hit by fighter jets and armed drones,” the news website added.
